CULTURE-CUBA: The Times, They Are A-Changin’
By Dalia Acosta

InterPress Service
April 7, 2008

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41895

HAVANA - Topics that are taboo in Cuba, absent from media coverage and missing in the political discourse were nevertheless present in debates at a congress of intellectuals who advocated a greater role for criticism in society, and more room for dialogue and participation.

"This is one more sign that the country is changing. Analyses are much more realistic, and there’s a shift in attitude among officials when they face criticism," a participant at the Seventh Congress of the Cuban Writers and Artists Union (UNEAC) told IPS.

This survey is being conducted by the Cuba Research & Analysis Group and U.S.-Cuba Cultural Exchange (USCCE) to assess the experiences of U.S.-based arts presenters, managers and agents who worked with Cuban performing artists during their tours of the U.S., or attempts at such, up until May 2004. The results will be used to compile a report that documents the impact of Cuban performing art in the United States and that may be used to educate the public as well as policy makers and Congressional representatives.